A
new market
research survey [PDF] reveals some growing trends, as well
as some surprises. Market research and advertising firm AdMob
(which is owned
by Google) has combed through millions of advertising requests
from mobile devices and surveys and has drawn a wealth of
conclusions.

The study takes a snapshot of smartphone users
browsing the 15,000 sites in AdMob's network.

It
reveals some intriguing trends in terms of smartphone market
leadership. It reveals that the iPhone has a 50 percent share
of the OS market for smartphone devices browsing
the internet,
while Android
is a growing second with about 24 percent market share.
RIM, meanwhile trails with about 4 percent market share.

Obviously
RIM is currently the top smartphone maker when you look at its
cross-product sales numbers. However, iPhone users (and Android
users) are using mobile internet much more. This raises the
likelihood both that online content and online advertisements will be
aimed more heavily at them, while Blackberry users may see poor
compatibility.

The survey also shows India, Indonesia, and the
UK to be the closest competitors to the U.S. in terms of an
internet-active smart phone user population. China, curiously,
does not make the list.

The study also shows that Mobile
Internet Devices (MIDs), like Apple's new iPad, are growing fast in
market share. From February 2009 to February 2010 they grew
from about 7 percent to about 17 percent of the total mobile
traffic.

AdMob recently conducted a study that showed that 10
percent of smartphone users (approximately) want an iPad.
ComScore, a separate market research firm, recently pegged U.S.
smartphone subscription rates at close
to 43 million units. If Apple could indeed sell 4.3+
million iPads, that would be a blow to the device's numerous critics,
who include Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates.

The
iPad launches
this Saturday in Wi-Fi form priced at $499, $599, and
$699 respectively for 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models.

"Well, we didn't have anyone in line that got shot waiting for our system." -- Nintendo of America Vice President Perrin Kaplan